Give Your Old Jewelry An Expensive New Look

Give Your Old Jewelry An Expensive New Look
CBS4Boston, Boston 

(CBS4) Give any woman the gift of jewelry and she’ll be a friend for life, but just like clothing, jewelry styles change.

These days many women are choosing silver, white gold and platinum over yellow gold. Instead of spending a fortune on new jewelry, there is a way you can give your old jewelry a makeover.”You can make a ring that’s a couple hundred dollars, look like several thousand dollars,” said John Dan’tonio. He has been rhodium plating jewelry for 32 years.

Rhodium is a form of platinum, and Dan’tonio says it give you that platinum look every time.

He demonstrated using three gold rings. First the rings are buffed and smoothed of any dings. Then they are placed in a degreaser and dipped for about 15 seconds in the rhodium solution.

Rhodium is safe for hard stones like diamonds and sapphires. For softer stones like pearls and opals, “We take the stone out, do our work and then replace the stone,” Dan’tonio said.

What do the customers think?

“I love it,” one said. “It looks so good. You know, the diamond does look bigger, and brighter. Wow, what a difference.”

“I love it, brand new ring,” said another. “It looks better like this.”

You can expect your rhodium dipped jewelry to last up to a year and a half. Then it gradually starts to fade to its natural color. It costs about $25.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)